"8 Million Strong and Voting!" Small business is the heart beat of the United States economy. This blog searches for issues and answers to helping small business survive and thrive in California and the United States.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

September 11th was the deadline for
the Governor to sign or veto bills. Overall Small Business California had a
pretty good year with our big disappointment of AB 722 not passing the
Senate.

This was our crowd funding bill. We
will be bringing it back next year.

I have reported that the Governor
signed AB 1245 which requires businesses with 10 or more employees to
file by 2017 EDD reports on line. For businesses with less than 10 employees
they will be required to do this by 2018. There is a hardship exemption.

I will be sending to you, in the
future, the status of some other bills that passed or failed but here are just a few that we
thought were important:

Small Business California strongly supported or
opposed these bills

AB 525. Signed by the Governor to
give additional protections to Franchisees in contracts with Franchisors. Supported

AB 1124.This bill will establish
drug formularies for prescription drugs for workers compensation. The
cost savings on this are up to $420 million and it will be advantageous to the
injured worker. Supported

AB 1230. This will provide a loan
fund for small businesses to comply with ADA.
Supported

SB 197. Authorizes a licensed
lender to compensate an unlicensed person or company in connection with
the referral of prospective borrower. CAMEO was sponsor of this bill. Supported

Wednesday, October 07, 2015

Small Business California and
especially Lori Kammerer our Government Affairs person worked hard to get
AB1124 passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor. I would also
like to acknowledge Christine Baker the Director of
Industrial Relations for all her work in bringing all the stakeholders
together. Please see below press release by Assemblyman Perea.

The Governor has a few more days
to sign or veto bills. We have a number of bills pending and are watching
closely. I will be sending out an email listing the results of bills we have
been supporting and opposing.

SACRAMENTO – Today, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assemblymember Henry T.
Perea’s (D-Fresno) Assembly Bill (AB) 1124 into law. AB 1124 will establish a
prescription drug formulary in California’s workers’ compensation system. This
bill will save the California workers’ compensation system up to $420 million
while ensuring injured workers get the necessary level of care that would help
them get back to work.

“A drug formulary in California will ensure our
workers are provided with safe and effective care to get them back to work
while reducing unnecessary costs and saving California hundreds of millions of
dollars,” said Assemblymember Perea. “I applaud Governor Brown for signing this
important measure into law.”

“We are pleased that
this legislation will help ensure injured workers receive evidence based and
appropriate pharmaceuticals at a reasonable cost,” said Christine Baker,
Director Department of Industrial Relations.

“AB 1124 will reduce
unnecessary costs within the workers’ compensation system while specifically
protecting an injured worker’s right to any medically necessary prescription
drugs,” said Mitch Seaman of the California Labor Federation. “In addition, the
bill guarantees timely formulary updates as new drugs become available and a
phased implementation for workers injured prior to the bill’s effective date.
We applaud the work of the author, the Department of Industrial Relations, and
the broad coalition of workers’ compensation stakeholders, and we look forward
to remaining closely involved as the formulary works its way through the
regulatory process.”

“On behalf of small
businesses across California, we applaud both Assemblymember Henry Perea and
Governor Jerry Brown in taking the concept of a work comp drug formulary and
actually creating law. We believe this is a huge step forward in a
multi-pronged strategy to address the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs,”
said Scott Hauge, President, Small Business California.

“The California
Chamber of Commerce commends Assemblymember Perea for his leadership in
creating a safer and more efficient workers’ compensation system,” said Jeremy
Merz of the California Chamber of Commerce. “By creating a prescription
medication formulary, AB 1124 will provide effective and evidence-based
treatment for injured workers while reducing delays and medical disputes.
This legislation furthers the goal of a balanced workers compensation system
that provides timely benefits to injured workers and minimizes friction in the
system.”

“The American
Insurance Association (AIA) is pleased to support AB 1124 and the adoption
of a workers' compensation drug formulary. An effective formulary
will assist in injured workers' medical outcomes, lesson system friction
and provide for savings. Formularies have been adopted in other states,
and have proven to be effective in the managed care setting,” said Steve
Suchil, Assistant Vice President/Counsel, State Affairs Western Region, (AIA).
“Assembly Member Perea and his staff worked hard to convene meetings with
affected parties and consider various points of view. Passage of AB
1124 is another significant step in improving the
workers' compensation system.”

“Congratulations to
Assemblymember Perea and Governor Brown in making AB 1124 law. California’s
upcoming drug formulary should result in prescribing behavior changes away from
dangerous prescription drugs and combinations of drugs to more clinically
appropriate means of managing chronic pain. If the injured worker wins by
getting better care faster, then all other stakeholders also win,” said Mark
Pew, Senior Vice President, PRIUM.

About Me

Small Business California is a proactive, non-partisan business advocate whose only agenda is the well being of California’s 3.2 million small businesses. Working for all small businesses for a better business environment, SB-Cal is responsive to the needs of small business owners.
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